Destination Illinois: Anderson Japanese Gardens

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — It all started as an idea for a backyard garden in the late 1970s. It has since turned into more than 12 acres of land for all to enjoy.

Anderson Japanese Gardens has been a fixture in Rockford for decades.

“It’s something new every day,” said Gardens Chief Operating Officer John Gleason. “It’s been fun.”

Gleason gave us a tour of the grounds on a sunny Friday morning. The ponds glistened as koi fish and their colorful scales slowly swam about.

“You kind of get exposed to this open wonderful location that has all these tiny little nooks and crannies as you navigate your way through the trails of the garden,” said Gleason.

He said construction of Anderson Japanese Gardens began in 1978. According to the gardens’ website, Rockford businessman John Anderson was inspired to build the garden after visiting the Portland Japanese Garden in Oregon. The garden started in Anderson’s backyard along Rockford’s Spring Creek.

Anderson donated the Gardens in the late 1990s. It’s now a not-for-profit entity.

“It’s a place of healing, a place of tranquility, a place of a zen response, and that’s pretty much the whole concept of a Japanese garden is to allow you to walk through, positive distractions is a big thing,” said Gleason.

“You’re just supposed to wander and discover things on your own. There’s all these little offshoots of paths that end up in a dead end. Everything that you’ll see within this garden, whether it’s the placement of a stone, a boulder, the way a path goes, the way the trees hang over the path, every single thing is intentional and it’s all meticulously detailed out by our garden crew and the person who designed the garden.”

Gleason said the staff continues to update and upkeep the grounds. It’s their mission to make memories for all visitors for generations to come.

“There’s a lot of things that people come to see and everybody has different favorites and different highlights, so that’s what’s really cool,” he said. “People, they like to share their stories about this place because it inspires them to be able to put things into words of how it makes them feel, so that’s pretty cool.”

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